Aura's Legacy
by InfiniteImmunity
Summary: Ash returns home after his conquest of the Sinnoh region ready to go on another adventure. It's not the one he bargained for though, as this new adventure will have him traveling all over the world with old and new friends alike. All to save the world.
1. Prologue: The Tower that was Burnt

Well here I am again! InfiniteImmunity is back again with another story for all you awesome readers out there! Welcome to the epic tale of Aura's Legacy! This fic will be a new challenge for me as a writer since it will be my first attempt at a story with more than one chapter. Actually, there's a good chance that this will be a very, VERY long fic. Oh what have I gotten myself into now...? I especially hate the fact that the idea for this story came to me at 4:00 in the morning, causing me to get no sleep as I quickly wrote an outline for chapter one, so I didn't forget it when I woke up. Oh well... my complaining isn't the reason why you're here.

Anyway, let's get on with the show!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon in any form whatsoever. I only own the plot of this fic and Pikachu... wait what? I don't own Pikachu? Well... this is awkward...

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><p><strong>Prologue: The Tower That Was Burnt<strong>

Ecruteak City (Past)

Flames blazed everywhere, leaving no room for escape. This tower was coming down, whether Barthold wanted it to or not. He may be an Aura Guardian, but there were just some things that he couldn't do.

"Well... this might be bad..."

_"Bad? BAD? This isn't a situation where we can get out with our lives so easily!"_

"Oh, shut it Lucario... I can listen to your nagging later, when we get out of here alive." Barthold said to his partner.

Lucario crossed his arms across his chest. His anger at Barthold was quickly escalating; so much so that he had no qualms hitting him with an Aura Sphere right now. He was also pretty sure that he knew through their telepathic link. He just didn't seem to care.

Lucario let out a sigh. He knew that this wasn't the time or place for such an act. He'd have to deliver his beat down later.

"_My question to you is how, in Arceus's name, did we wind up in this situation in the first place?"_

Barthold scratched his head after just narrowly dodging falling debris. "Well, it all started when that girl began to give me drinks in the Pokémon Center..."

_"NO! Not that! I want to know why the tower is burning down!"_

"Well how the hell should I know! I felt an imbalance in aura over here, but I never expected something like this!"

_"I know! I felt it too... but that feeling shouldn't have caused a disaster. At least not something like this..."_

Barthold began racking his brain for an answer, while trying to find a way out. Finally a thought occurred to him.

"Lucario... what if this wasn't caused by aura going out of control but by... humans? I think that would explain why this flash fire just started up all of a sudden."

_"It's a possibility. I was under the impression though that the Pokémon who lived here was revered by the townsfolk. That and the one on the neighboring tower. It just doesn't make any sense..."_

A large snap resounded through the air. Lucario looked in the direction of the painful sound to see Barthold about to be crushed by a collapsing support beam that had finally broken above them.

_"Master!"_

"Oh crap!"

Barthold braced for an impact that never came. After opening his eyes he was surprised by what he saw.

"Entei! You... why are you here?" The Volcano Pokémon just stared at him until howling could be heard from nearby.

"Raikou... and Suicune too! Why are you three here? You have to escape before it's too late! Even powerful Pokémon like yourselves will be killed in this fire!"

The three Legendary Beasts proceeded to ignore the Aura Guardian's concern and began helping Barthold and Lucario to safety. Suicune and Entei began clearing the fires that blocked the way while Raikou destroyed all the debris that stood before them with his lightning attacks. For a while, it seemed that they would all escape.

All of sudden the tower began to shake violently and the screams of an outraged Pokémon could be heard from above.

_"The tower's deity is upset! He's fleeing from here!"_ Lucario managed to spit out.

"Wait, what? Why isn't he helping put out the fire!"

**"That would be because of me... Aura Guardian Barthold."**

Barthold paled at the sound of the cold voice from in front of him and turned just in time to see, and feel, a sharp sword pierce the center of his body. Barthold's vision began swimming before him.

Lucario could only watch helplessly as his master fell before him in a growing puddle of his own blood. He couldn't react in time due to the strange masked man's sudden appearence.

_"MASTER!"_

As Lucario and the three Legendary Beasts began to rush forward, the masked man chuckled slightly as he raised his right arm, posing almost as if telling them to stop. All of a sudden a blast of blue energy shot from the man's palm and the floor below the charging Pokémon gave way.

_"Impossible...! Another... user of aura!"_ And just like that the beasts and Lucario fell to their death in the tower's basement.

**"Stay out of my way silly creatures... my task here is done. With the deity of this tower, Lugia, gone, I can finally begin the next stage of my plan!"**

"I won't... ugh... let you... do that... you... bastard!"

**"What?"**

Barthold, using all the strength he had left, grabbed the masked man's leg, preventing him from running.

"I'm taking you with me... to the next life!"

**"Hahaha... it is futile to try. No matter what may come to me, I will live on. As is my curse to bear."**

Barthold then began to chuckle to himself. "Then let me... tell you something... you masked freak. No matter... what becomes of me... if you happen to somehow survive this... my descendants will track you down themselves... and kill you!"

**"Urgh! You foolish man! You know not of what you are meddling in."**

"Maybe not... maybe I am just... a big idiot... like Lucario says... but I'm a big idiot who never gives in! HAAAH!"

At that moment Barthold released the remainder of his life force into a final, all or nothing auric burst. Either this would take the masked man to the next world with him, or his life would end either way if it didn't. He had nothing left to lose.

**"Aghh! You... bastard...!"**

As Barthold drifted away into the never ending darkness he saw a final glimmer of hope. The mystical Rainbow Bird Pokémon Ho-Oh descended from the sky over the torn off roof from when Lugia fled. His last thoughts were sent out to this bird and his valuable partner.

_"Please... keep this world safe for me... find a descendant of mine worthy enough to wield the power of aura and guide him... my one and only partner..."_

_"...Lucario..."_

And all went dark.

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><p>Pallet Town (Present)<p>

Ash Ketchum woke with a start, sweat dripping from his head. _'Man... what was with that strange dream...? It just felt so... vivid and real...'_

Ash slowly got out of bed and looked out his bedroom window. He saw the rolling fields surrounding his humble little town teaming with farmers and Pokémon alike, all doing their part to provide for their families and friends.

"Ah well... a dream's a dream, nothing important there. Still, it's great to be home after traveling for so long."

Ash looked back at his bed and saw his best friend and partner Pikachu still sound asleep at the foot of the bed.

"Hey Pikachu, time to wake up buddy. We've got a lot of things we need to do today!" Ash said with a grin as he tried waking the sleeping rodent.

Pikachu opened his eyes and let out a big yawn, not too pleased at having been woken up from a fairly good dream. He just glared at his trainer, before shaking his head and jumping onto his shoulder. Pikachu just couldn't hold a grudge or be too angry at his trainer for something as little as this.

"Pika pi! Pikachu Pika!" The mouse eagerly said.

"Yep that's right buddy, we're off to Professor Oak's today after some breakfast. Still, I can't believe that we're actually going on a vacation to the Unova region today! It's just a shame that Brock, Dawn, and any of our other friends can't come with us..."

Ash frowned as he said that. His best human friend Brock, as his "true" best friend was Pikachu of course, finally decided to become a Pokémon Doctor and had split up with him just after arriving back in Kanto after Ash took top 4 in the Sinnoh league. All in al, Brock was the closest thing to a brother he had, and Ash wouldn't change that for the world.

His other most recent travelling companion, Dawn, saw Ash and Brock off at the shipyard back in Sinnoh, deciding that she was going back home before figuring out what it was she wanted to do next. Dawn had said that she'll probably go compete in another Grand Festival somewhere. Where that somewhere was, though, she didn't know yet... or she hadn't told Ash yet was more like it.

_'Heh... she's probably already left on some wild journey already without telling anybody but her mom.'_ Ash thought with a grin.

Ash then remembered his other friends who had travelled with him over the years.

His other best friend Misty, who was like a sister to him at this point, was currently serving as the Cerulean City gym leader and was far too busy to go on a vacation, as much as she might have wanted to.

Then his mind turned to his Hoenn friends May and Max.

At this point in time, Max was now finally old enough to begin his own Pokémon journey as he had just turned ten a few months ago. So now he was most likely traveling somewhere in the Hoenn region with his new Pokémon friends. The thought of that caused Ash to smile as he knew how much Max loved Pokémon.

May, however, was a top notch coordinater who was still traveling in the Johto region as far as Ash knew. He really hadn't heard much from her since she visited him, Dawn, and Brock during the Wallace Cup in the Sinnoh region.

Ash's previous smile quickly turned into a small frown as he thought of May.

_'Why hasn't she contacted anybody in so long? Last I heard from Max was that even HE didn't know where she was or what she's up to. I hope she's alright...'_

He was quickly brought out of his trance when he heard the words of his mother from below.

"Ash! Come downstairs now! I made your favorite pancakes for breakfast!"

Ash began to chuckle to himself. "Well, no use worrying about that now. Come on Pikachu, let's get something to eat!"

"Pika!

The two began to make their way down the stairs and into the kitchen, anxious for the trip to Unova, and what new Pokémon they would find.

Burned Tower, Ecruteak City

A stone statue in the ruined tower's basement began to glow before shattering completely, revealing a dazed and weak Pokémon as it collapsed onto the cold ground beneath him.

_"What... what happened...?"_ Lucario spoke aloud. _"Master? Master Barthold, where are you?"_

Lucario sat up and paused to think. After all, he needed to figure out what had happened and just how long he had been out.

_"Hmm..."_

Suddenly, a horrid memory came rushing back to him. The memory of where the masked man had killed his master. A memory of pain and sadness.

_"NO!"_ Lucario began to frantically search the ruins, but to no avail. He couldn't find a trace of his master anywhere.

_"Master... I'm sorry... I failed you..."_ A tear dripped from Lucario's eye. But before he could think of grieving for his master a shiver ran down his spine, causing him to snap out of his thoughts.

_"W-what? What was that feeling just now...?"_

Using his abilities, Lucario scanned the aura around him, but found nothing extraordinary. Still feeling a bit unnerved he began to extend the range of his auric sensors until he felt a very disturbing, yet familiar presence in the distance.

_"This presence... it can't be! IT'S HIM!"_

Lucario was livid with anger and hate for the aura he picked up... the aura of the masked man.

_"I will find you fiend... and when I do, I will avenge my master's death!"_

Lucario hopped up and out of the tower, surprising the townsfolk in the area as he began to dash off towards the signature of the masked man's aura, somewhere in the east.

**"So... this is where the next piece of the Instrument of Judgement is? Such a quaint little town..."**

The cold voiced individual looked down at his two Pokémon comrades. Both Mightyena and Houndoom were ready to begin the mission at any moment. The sight made the man chuckle.

**"Well... let's make this quick."**

As he adjusted the mask covering his face he began to walk down the hill he was on and into the heart of Pallet Town, towards Oak's Pokémon Lab...

**TO BE CONTINUED**

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><p>Whew! That was a work out for sure! It took me a while to decide on how I wanted to present this prologue (as it needs to be exciting yet show room for growth so people keep coming back to read). I still think that in some parts I maybe could have done better, but I figured that after proofreading it, why not just upload it and see what everyone else thinks. So there you go guys, let me know! Write a review, it won't take too long, and let me know what you liked, hated, think I can improve on, or thought I did really well. I will gladly take criticism as long as it is constructive and not hurtful in any way.<p>

So I hope you liked chapter one of Aura's Legacy and I can't wait to see you all in chapter two!

InfiniteImmunity out!


	2. Chapter 1: Complications

Well here it is, chapter 1! Thanks so much for the favorites and reviews from the last chapter... er... prologue. I guess since this IS technically chapter 1 the last was a prologue and... oh forget it! Thanks! I have to stop before I confuse myself with unimportant details.

Anyway, on with the show!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon in any way. I only own the plot of this fic and, subsequently, my messed up mind. Ah insanity...

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Complications<strong>

Pallet Town - Kanto

The sun shone brightly in the sky over Oak's Pokémon Research Lab. Pidgey could be heard chirping from miles around; it was another calm and peaceful day by no stretch of the imagination. Professor Oak was sitting at his computer frowning, despite the beautiful weather outside.

"This just doesn't make any sense..." the old man mused to himself. "No matter what I try I just can't seem to find any information on this strange metal object. Blast it Gary, why did you have to bring something so enigmatic home? I don't care if you found it in the mountains in Sinnoh, it doesn't do me any good if I can't figure out what the hell it is!"

Professor Oak scratched his head in frustration as he gave the object his grandson brought home another look. Saying it was strange was an understatement to say the least. It was clearly made of some form of metal, but wouldn't melt under any amount of heat or become malleable either. Ash's Torkoal and Quilava could attest to that. Even stranger though was its shape. It was sort of funnel shaped with an opening on both ends. One end looked like it was meant to be fit into something and the other end was shaped like a musical instrument almost. Oak was having more than a hard time finding out what this thing was. Fire didn't melt it, water didn't rust it, and none of his colleagues from the other regions had any idea what it was. Oak got so frustrated once that he threw it into Ash's herd of Tauros to be rid of it, only to find out that, despite the trampling it received, it was completely undamaged. He could have sworn the thing was mocking him at that point...

Oak sighed before shrugging, "Maybe this is one of those things that will never be solved..."

"Professor? What are you doing?"

"Ah Tracey, I was wondering when you'd return."

"Yes professor, I just finished taking care of the Pokémon now. I must say, being your assistant is never dull. I was tackled, trampled, and almost eaten within the past two hours..." Tracey deadpanned.

Professor Oak sweat dropped at this information. Tracey Sketchit was a talented Pokémon Watcher from the Orange Islands who joined up with Ash and Misty while they traveled through the tropical area a few years ago. Upon learning that Ash was well acquainted with the professor, he immediately decided to travel with them in order to meet his "hero" and wouldn't take no for an answer. It turned out to be a very good deal as Tracey was a good trainer and knowledgeable about the Pokémon world to boot. Plus when they returned to the Kanto region and Pallet Town, Tracey decided to work at his lab as an assistant, which in turn helped lighten his workload immensely.

Tracey was very adept at handling the different Pokémon at the lab and was also able to offer decent opinions on most of the professor's different research projects. Unfortunately for the dark haired youth, the Pokémon at the lab loved the boy a little TOO much... which is why he was normally, more often than not, "attacked" by the Pokemon that were in a mad rush to see him. This usually ended up in the occasional tackling or trampling and now almost being... eaten apparently.

Oak placed a reassuring hand on his aide's shoulder, knowing full well who the culprit was.

"It was Muk again... wasn't it?"

"Yes... professor." Tracey shakily responded. "Oh, the nightmares I'm going to have..."

Oak sighed knowing full well what nightmares Tracey was going to have. He had them too for over a week when he was almost ingested by the Sludge Pokémon.

"Well, horrific nightmares aside... are you sure you can handle everything until I get back? I should only be gone about a week or so."

"Don't worry professor! I'm sure I can take care of everything while you're on vacation." Tracey looked at the desk Oak was sitting at and noticed the strange metal object. "You're still trying to figure out what that is? Any luck?"

"No, not in the least." Oak sighed. "This blasted thing is still a mystery to me."

"Hmm..." Tracey looked at the metal funnel intently.

"Well either way, I refuse to even think about it while I'm in Unova! The whole point of this trip for me is so I can finally stop losing sleep at night over this... this thing! It's like it's laughing at me... telling me I'll never figure out what it's made of or what it's purpose is or anything! The laughter keeps me up at night sometimes..." Oak cried.

"... you really do need more sleep, don't you Professor Oak?" Tracey sweat dropped.

"More than you can imagine, Tracey my boy..."

"Speaking of sleep... he should be up and almost here to see you soon..."

Before Tracey could finish his thought, the front door opened and they could hear a loud voice full of energy boom through the lab.

"Professor Oak! Me and Pikachu are here!" Ash said brightly.

Tracey grinned at the sound of his friend. "Ah... speak of the devil."

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><p><strong>Twinleaf Town - Sinnoh<strong>

The Sinnoh region, a region known for it's natural beauty, exotic Pokémon, and a slightly colder climate compared to Kanto. Here people and Pokémon live together in peace just like any other region in the world. Twinleaf Town was no exception to this fact. Here in this quiet little burg lives a rambunctious 13 year old girl...

"Dawn! How many times have I told you not to practice Piplup's routine in the house!"

"But mom..."

"No if's, and's, or but's! Now you help me clean up this mess you've made!"

"Tch... fine..." said girl pouted.

Dawn slowly sulked off to find a mop before her mom decided to get on her case again. Couldn't she tell that she was just getting anxious to start adventuring again? She really should have planned what she was going to do when Ash and Brock left ahead of time... she was now stuck at home with nothing to do but train until some sort of new opportunity came along.

The blunette sighed. "Man... if I knew it would end up like this, I would have gone to Kanto with the two of them. I would have loved to see it! I wonder what Ash's home town looks like...? Is it it like mine?" Dawn began to blush slightly as the thoughts crossed her mind.

"Meh, not like it really matters now..." she said as she snapped herself out of her thoughts. "Now where did that mop go?"

"We interrupt this regularly scheduled program to bring you some breaking news."

"Huh?" Dawn looked into the living room to see the news on the T.V.

"Recent reports say that at 10:38 p.m. last night, the Pokétch company, located in Jubilife City, was broken into by an unknown intruder. Authorities claim that nothing has been reported stolen as of yet and there have been no signs of property damage as well. The president is baffled as to how someone managed to break into the building and authorities would like the citizens' cooperation to apprehend the suspect. In other news..."

"Whoa... how weird. Now why would anybody do that I wonder?" An evil smirk suddenly developed on Dawn's face, causing her partner Piplup to begin to worry about their safety.

"Pip... piplup pip...? Piplup asked nervously.

"Hehehe... oh don't worry Piplup... this is nothing that Ace Detective Dawn can't figure out!"

Piplup paled. Now he was REALLY worried about their safety...

"Come on! Let's go to Jubilife right away!"

Dawn left no room for arguments as she dragged her water starter out the door with her bag packed in a matter of seconds. They were off on another crazy adventure and the poor little penguin had no idea what was in store for them.

"... Dawn? Where's that mop? Dawn? DAWN!" yelled an irate Johanna.

Dawn was already a mile away when she felt a sudden chill go down her spine. Somehow, she felt like she wasn't going to want to go home anytime soon...

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><p><strong>Pallet Town - Kanto<strong>

"Hey guys! Did you all miss me?" Ash asked his Pokémon who were all crowded around him at that point.

Ash's Pokémon all yelled in confirmation. They were overjoyed to see their trainer back home again and were all wondering what was next on his to do list.

"Well first things first..." Ash unhooked all his Pokéballs from his belt. "Time for all of you to meet my Sinnoh team!"

Ash tossed all of the balls into the air at once, causing five different Pokémon to appear. A massive green turtle, a burning monkey, a lithe and agile weasel, a medium sized bird, and finally a small blue land shark.

"Everybody meet Torterra, Infernape, Buizel, Staraptor, and Gible! Guys, meet everyone else!" Ash chuckled as he watched his Pokémon begin to interact with each other.

Staraptor and his other bird Pokémon began doing aerial tricks and maneuvers high above the rest of them, almost as if they were in a friendly competition with each other. Buizel seemed to have paired up with Corphish and the two of them had a mischievous look in their eyes along with an unnerving grin. They were up to something and for some reason Ash had a bad feeling about it...

Ash looked to his right to see his Totodile dancing on top of Torterra's large back along with Gible. Torterra didn't look to upset about it so Ash decided to let them have their fun. Finally, off in the distance Ash could see Infernape, Sceptile, and Snorlax taking a nap in the shade of a tree.

All in all, Ash felt that all of his Pokémon were going to get along well with each other.

"I see you've added some very interesting Pokémon to your collection again, my boy." Oak said with a smile.

"Haha! You know it Professor Oak! I'd never have made it through the Sinnoh region if it weren't for these guys. They're all so powerful in their own way and made one hell of an awesome team."

"Ah I see... it sounds like you've had quite the adventure Ash. I must ask though... who are you going to bring with us on our trip to Unova? Or are you going to bring only Pikachu with you again?"

"Well... I hadn't really thought about it yet..." Ash frowned. " I suppose that I'd like to start fresh again just like Hoenn and Sinnoh. I feel like I get a lot stronger by doing that."

"Well it's your decision Ash, but I'd be sure to let your current team know what you decide as soon as you know." Oak put on a thoughtful and distant expression. "Bonds of trust and bonds of faith, nothing can break which trainers and Pokémon make... ooh, I should write that one down..."

Ash sweat dropped. "Professor, I wonder how big your book of poetry is by now..."

"Hoho! Not nearly big enough! I do wonder how I can keep coming up with new lines every so often... you would think I'd have run out of ideas by now.

"If only..." Ash muttered

"Hm? Did you say something?"

"Oh, nothing! Nothing at all! I'm going to go let my team know what's up now! I'll be back later professor!"

Before Oak could question him further Ash ran off into the fields to find his newest team of Pokémon. It wasn't hard to find them and before long Ash had his five new Pokémon all sitting in front of him.

"Hey guys... I have something... important to tell you all." Ash said slowly.

"Nape?"

"Buizel bui!"

"Well... man this is never easy to do..." Ash clenched his fists into balls before continuing on. "Please don't take this the wrong way guys, you all mean so much to me and have done so much... but, usually when I go on another adventure, I only take Pikachu with me..."

The Pokémon looked at each confusedly until they all slowly got the message Ash was trying to convey. He wasn't taking them with him. They were being left behind here at the lab.

"Please don't look so down guys! I'm not going to forget about you all, I'd never do that! I might even call on you guys at some point or another to help me out in the future. So please don't think this is the end... you're all just going to be resting and training here at the lab while I'm away." Ash put on a grin. "And I expect you guys to stay in top form too, because when I call you guys for another league battle in the future I need you at your best."

His Pokémon all grinned at their trainer; their fears of being abandoned were misplaced and they now knew that he was still counting on them to be as strong as they can be. Who knows what he'll be fighting when he calls them for help.

They all gave a nod of approval and a few yelps of encouragement. They were with Ash 100% of the way, and nothing was going to stop them now.

"Thanks guys! I knew I could count on you. Now as for training... Infernape, I'd like you to work on..."

BOOM

Ash was cut off mid sentence as he heard an explosion ring out from the direction of the lab.

"Wh-what the? Come on Pikachu, let's take a look! Everyone else, find the rest of the Pokémon and let them know what's going on!"

"Pika!"

Ash and Pikachu ran back to the lab as quickly as they could. As they neared the building they saw black smoke rising into the air and the cries of a certain Pokémon.

"Houndoom!"

"That was... a Houndoom! Just what is happening here!" Ash exclaimed.

As he ran into the building he noticed that parts of the room were on fire and burning slowly. What worried him even more was that there was no sign of either Tracey or Professor Oak anywhere to be seen. He continued to search until he found Tracey trapped underneath an overturned bookshelf, struggling to escape.

"Tracey! Hang on!"

"A-Ash... don't worry about me... go find... the professor..."

"Don't move I'll get you out of there!"

"NO! I'll be fine! Now please...! Find Professor Oak before it's too late..."

"Too late? What do you mean too late? Just what is going on here!"

"I... couldn't stop him... from barging into the lab and... setting fire to the building. He just... knocked me to the side and... took the professor with him into the other room. Hurry Ash! This guy is... dangerous!"

Ash froze at this information.

_'He's after the professor? Oh no... I have to save him!'_

"Sorry Tracey, I'll be back for you in just a second! Hang tight!" Ash quickly leapt up and ran down the hall with Pikachu following close behind.

"Please Ash... hurry..."

* * *

><p><strong>"Ah... so here it is... you really shouldn't have tried to hide this from me old man. If you hadn't I might have spared your precious little laboratory from becoming cinder."<strong>

The masked man picked up the strange metal object before turning back to Oak.

"You... cough... what do you want with that thing? What is it's value to you?"

**"What it means to me is of little concern to you... now for you to join your laboratory in becoming a pile of ash...!"**

"Did someone call me?"

**"Oh?"**

Ash stared down the masked man from the doorway with an expression of pure anger.

"Now... you're going to tell me why you're here and what you think you are doing... RIGHT NOW!"

**TO BE CONTINUED**

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><p>Oh I just had a thought. It might be a good idea to say how old everybody important is in this story. Well currently it's like this:<p>

Ash - 15

Brock - 19

Misty - 16

Tracey - 16

May - 14

Max - 10

Dawn - 13

Gary - 15

Paul - 15

So that's that! Ages are established! Now some people might be wondering where May is in all of this and are confused as to why she hasn't appeared yet. Or why I'm focusing on Dawn before May for that matter. To answer it simply, yes this is an advance shipping story or whatever the term is called (I don't really pay attention to that kind of stuff. *gasp* you heathen! But anyway...) but I don't write fluff. Or at least if there isn't a crap ton of humor or drama to go with it. For my plot, Dawn plays a big role. In fact, EVERYBODY plays an important part. May won't be appearing until a little later in the story. I prefer an epic story to a cheesy romance, just saying. There is nothing wrong with liking the cheesy stuff, some of it can be really well written and power to you if you do, it's only my opinion.

Anyway, please rate and review! I can't tell you how much reviews mean to me. It makes me feel like this is worthwhile and that people really like my story.

InfinteImmunity out!


	3. Chapter 2: Happier Times

Welcome everyone to chapter 2 of Aura's Legacy! Let's get the show on the road, shall we?

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. If I did I'd make it so that trainers could carry more than six at a time and train a small army. Come on, you guys know you'd do it too if you could!

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Happier Times<strong>

Humans and Pokemon alike were baffled as to what this high speed object that was racing through the countryside exactly was. It was moving so fast that all anyone could see was a black and blue blur. This blur, however, was on a mission. A very, very important mission.

_"I must find that man! I can sense that I am nearing his location... it is only a matter of time before I make him pay for what he has done to Master Barthold and myself! I swear it in the name of Aura that he will pay!"_

Lucario's speed picked up a notch as he travelled down Route 1 in the Kanto region...

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><p>Pallet Town - Kanto<p>

"Now... you're going to tell me why you're here and what you think you are doing... RIGHT NOW!"

The fifteen year old trainer scowled at his opponent with enough ferocity to make even his friend Misty, who has quite a temper in her own right, back off like a whimpering Poochyena. Ash had never been so furious in his entire life.

**"Well well... it appears I missed one. Houndoom, remove this nuisance from my sight."**

"Doom!"

Ash leapt away from Houndoom's oncoming flamethrower attack just in the nick of time.

"Pikachu, use thunderbolt!"

"Pi-ka-chuuu!"

Pikachu's thunderbolt made a clean hit on the Dark Pokemon, causing it to stumble and fall down. Both the masked man and the Houndoom itself were not expecting such a ferocious attack from just a little Pikachu.

**"Intriguing... that Pikachu seems to have been trained well. I can see it has been through many a battle and emerged victorious. You might be a little more dangerous than just a 'nuisance'..."**

"Hah! I'll take that as a compliment. Now, answer my question. Who the hell are you and what are you doing!"

**"Foolish child, what I am doing is of no concern to you. There is no way that a mere boy can hope to understand what it is I am trying to accomplish by coming here. Be thankful that I have spared your life, and the lives of the researchers here, thus far."**

"What do you mean? The last I checked, I was winning this little fight of ours. Maybe you should check if that mask isn't defective or something!"

**"Oh, is that so? Houndoom, Mightyena? Would you mind putting this whelp in his place?"**

Suddenly, the masked man's Houndoom sprung up from the floor and quickly performed another flamethrower on an unsuspecting Pikachu. It tried to fight it's way through the flames, but when it thought it was safe, Mightyena, who was making it's way behind Ash and Pikachu the whole time quickly clamped on to the electric rodent with a powerful crunch attack. Pikachu attempted to shock Mightyena while it was latched on, but before it could, the Bite Pokemon threw Pikachu into the wall on the far side of the room, knocking it out cold.

"Pikachu, no!" Ash cried out in desperation.

**"Now isn't this funny, our situation seems to have reversed itself boy. Now I hold all the cards."** The masked man chuckled evilly.

"Oh crap... this is bad. This is really bad." Ash said under his breath. "I don't have anymore Pokemon with me, since I just released everyone from my Sinnoh team out back."

The masked individual began walking slowly towards the raven haired youth. **"While it has been fun dealing with you, I'm afraid I'm going to end our little game now."** The man said cooly. **"You have annoyed me and delayed my plans long enough boy. Prepare to die."**

The masked man materialized a a glowing blue sword out of thin air, brandishing it as if it weighed no more than a feather. Ash was incredibly perturbed at the action. He would have been vocal about his shock that the man just made something appear out of nothing, but the fact that apparently his life was about to end took precedence.

Ash slowly started to back away from the approaching man. He, however, tripped on a pile of books that were thrown all over the room from the explosion earlier. Ash could now only look up in horror at to what would most likely be the last thing he ever saw.

**"Farewell... boy..." **The man began to swing his sword in a downward arc. Time seemed to have stopped for the young trainer as moments from his past adventures flashed across his mind...

- Flashback -

_"Well... I guess this is goodbye then..." Misty said with a sad smile._

_"Don't worry Misty! This may be the end of our adventures together, but this won't be the end of our friendship! You, Brock, and I will still be friends even if we're worlds apart." _

_"Yeah, Ash is right Misty." Brock reassured his red headed friend. "Though... I'm very touched that you'll miss me so much..." Brock than began to tear up and soon the waterworks were flying. "Oh to hell with it! I'm gonna miss you guys so much!" Brock grabbed his two traveling partners in a tight embrace._

_"Whoa! Brock! Take it easy man, you're crushing me!"_

_"Ok, that's enough!" Misty decked Brock across the face causing him to fly backwards and land on the ground twitching in both shock and pain._

_"Wh-why me...?" Brock groaned from his position on the ground._

_"Well... because... you're gonna make me cry dammit!" Misty yelled. "I'm sad enough as it is, I don't need to cry now..."_

_Both boys looked at their crestfallen friend sadly. "Misty..."_

_"But... I'll be strong. I mean, what you said is true Ash, we'll still be friends forever." Misty said with a more heartfelt and determined smile. "Plus, it's not like we'll never see each other again. I'm sure we can all meet up at Ash's place whenever he comes back home between journeys."_

_"Yeah! You guys are always welcome at my house!" Ash put on his trademark grin. "And if you guys are ever free to, join me on my adventures. You are both more than welcomed to."_

_"Ha! I might take you up on that Ash." Brock said as he picked himself up off the ground. "Who knows, I might end up not having to do much at the gym back home."_

_"Maybe I'll find some free time too. I'd be thrilled if I could even just visit..." said Misty._

_"Awesome! Well, I'm heading this way..." Ash said sadly. "See you guys soon!"_

_"Take care of yourself Ash... don't forget to call me every now and again! You know the number for the Cerulean Gym!"_

_"Good luck Ash. We'll see each other soon, I'm sure of it."_

_"Yep! Bye guys..." Ash turned around and walked off into the sunset. He touched the brim of his cap lightly for a second before pulling it down over his eyes. Despite what he said earlier, he was still greatly saddened at having to leave his two best friends. The tears just wouldn't stop._

_"Pika pi?" Pikachu asked it's trainer in a worried tone._

_"Yeah, I'm fine buddy... come on, let's go!"_

.0.0.0.

_Ash stared intently at his hand. In it was a ribbon, or more appropriately, half of a ribbon. It was his and May's new keepsake, a memory from their first battle together on the contest stage at, ironically, the end of their journey together._

_He gave the ribbon another look over. He could tell that this item would become very near and dear to his heart._

_"Ash..."_

_Ash spun around to see his other half smiling sweetly. She always smiled sweetly at him... or was he just imagining things?_

_"Hey May." The raven haired youth returned her greeting. "What are you doing over here?"_

_"Oh... nothing really... I just saw you standing here at the end of the pier and I was wondering why." She answered demurely._

_"Ah I see. I was just standing here thinking is all._

_"Thinking? What were you thinking about?"_

_"Well I was just thinking about when I first met you back in Hoenn." He smiled._

_"Oh god... I was such an idiot back then. Please don't remind me." May said with a pained expression. Ash knew that May was furious with how her younger, more inexperienced self acted._

_"Haha no don't worry about it. I was just glad to have met you at all. I came to a new region all alone with nobody but Pikachu at my side. You made it more bearable when you came with me. Then your brother Max joined and then my old buddy Brock came back to find me and join me on my adventure as well. I just wanted to thank you is all." _

_May went wide eyed. She had no idea that Ash felt this way! She put her hand over her heart, silently pleading for it to slow down it's beating and also hoping that the blush on her face was not too obvious. "Th-that's... well... you-you're welcome, Ash." May said, lost for words._

_Luckily for her, Ash was one of the densest people on the planet, so her signs of embarrassment went unnoticed._

_"Good luck in Johto May. Kick some ass in the Grand Fesitval!" Ash clenched his fist in determination. "And I'll be sure to kick even more ass where ever I go next."_

_"Hehe, I'm going to hold you to that Ash Ketchum." May smiled before the two were left looking at each other in silence for a few minutes._

_Suddenly a boat whistle could be heard at a pier further down the dock._

_"Oh, shoot! It's time already? I gotta go Ash."_

_"Yeah, later." Ash turned around to walk away when he was assaulted by a pair of hands grabbing him from behind. He then felt a body press itself against his back and hold him in a tight embrace._

_"M-May?"_

_"Be careful... ok?_

_"Y-yeah, sure."_

_"Ok then... bye bye!" May quickly let go and ran off before Ash could say another word._

_Ash noticed then a painful clutching feeling in his chest. He looked puzzled as to what it might be, but then chalked it up to being something unimportant. He then ran off to find Brock and Pikachu before setting off to home once again._

.0.0.0.

_"Dawn, if you hold him that tightly, I think he might pop." Brock said with a sly grin on his face._

_Dawn looked at the breeder confusedly before noticing that Ash was slowly turning blue and losing consciousness from her extremely tight hug._

_"Oh my god! I'm so, so sorry Ash! Don't die!" She shouted franticly before letting him go like he had been diseased._

_Ash coughed a little bit before chuckling slightly. "Don't worry Dawn, I've been through a lot worse._

_"Ahaha... right." The coordinator let out a nervous laugh._

_"Well Dawn, what are your plans now?" Brock asked with a raised eyebrow. "You're more than welcome to come with us back to Kanto."_

_"Yeah! I'm sure you'd love it!" Ash said excitedly._

_"I wish I could, but I think I'm going to go home first and figure out what I want to do next then." Dawn replied. "I promised my mom I'd come home after this journey was done." _

_"Oh I see... Well, don't forget that if you ever find yourself in the Kanto region come find us. We'll show you all the sights." Brock said with a smile._

_"Yeah! And I'll show you where all the contest halls are!"_

_"Thanks guys! Well, I'll let you both catch your boat now, so I'll see you soon. Stay in touch!"_

_Dawn gave another hug to Ash and Brock apiece before taking a couple of steps backwards and dashing off into the distance. While most would have missed it, tears were beginning to form in the corners of Dawn's eyes as she left. This, however, did not go unnoticed by Brock._

_"... hey Ash?"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"You sure this is ok?"_

_Ash cocked his head at Brock in what could only be called an extremely confused expression. He didn't understand what his good friend meant by that._

_"Huh? What do you mean?" Ash asked quizzically._

_Brock let out an exasperated sigh before shaking his head slightly and softly chuckling._

_"Well, it's alright if you don't understand yet. Come on, we're going to miss our boat at this rate!"_

_Brock quickly spun around and bolted to the boarding ramp._

_"H-hey! Wait up Brock!" Ash yelled after his companion._

_-_ Present Time -

If Ash had a moment to, he would have stopped to laugh and look back on those scenes fondly. Unfortunately for him, an eerily glowing blue sword was hurtling towards his, open, exposed, and very vulnerable head.

_'Oh shit...!"_ Ash fiercely shut his eyes to brace for the end.

CLANG

And thus it was that Ash Ketchum, experienced Pokemon Trainer, met his end at the hands of an unidentified masked intruder.

...

...

...

_'Wait... why am I still alive?' _Ash slowly opened his eyes to see why his life was not snuffed out.

"What the-?"

In front of Ash stood a glowing black and blue dog like creature with a metal spike in it's chest. A creature that Ash himself had had past experience with.

"A Lucario?" Ash exclaimed.

**"So... we meet again... familiar of the Aura Guardian Barthold."**

_"Yes... I have finally found you, and now, you shall perish by my fists!"_ Lucario declared while adopting a battle stance. At that moment Ash knew that his life was no longer in his own hands anymore.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

><p>Well there it is! What did you guys think? No big author's note this time around because I don't really have anything to say other than the usual. The usual being: please rate and review! I enjoy hearing feedback. We all do. It's a writer thing. You don't need to understand it, just accept it as a writer thing.<p>

Well, that's all for today. InfiniteImmunity out!


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